New home for Bethany Community Church North destroyed in a fire

Bethany North building fire photo courtesy South County Fire

By Diane Hettrick

In 2014 Bethany Community Church North set up a congregation in Shoreline. They purchased a building on Aurora which had previously housed a strip club and completely refurbished it into a bright and airy space. They called it The Junction and leased the front to a coffee shop. They reserved the back of the building for church offices.

They held services at nearby Shorewood High School and later at the Shoreline Auditorium, building their congregation.

In recent years they located and rented a building in Edmonds, the former Family Fun Center near SR 99 (Aurora) at 220th and completely remodeled it. It was completed this month.

Senior Pastor Scott Sund said they were set to hold Christmas Eve services in their new building. 

A passerby called 911 at 1:55am on Wednesday morning, December 8, 2021 to report black smoke and flames coming from the building. Eventually 50 firefighters would be on the scene with Shoreline Fire assisting South County Fire.

Due to excessive heat and limited visibility from heavy smoke inside the structure, crews initially had to attack from outside to knock down the bulk of the fire. It took about 90 minutes for firefighters to get the fire under control.

The building, according to Pastor Sund, was "rendered completely useless." He is grateful that no one was hurt.

The cause of the fire was accidental, according to South County Fire. Pastor Sund said it was an electrical fire.

Bethany North will be having Christmas eve and weekly services at Shoreline Auditorium until another space opens up.

Correction 12-15-21: Bethany did not own the building. They were renting and remodeling. The original article stated that they owned the building.